CHAMPCAR/CART: Denver: Fernandez Racing Saturday report

Fernandez foiled by rain in Qualifying
Unfortunately for Adrian Fernandez, the heaviest rain that fell
intermittently throughout the day at the Centrix Financial Grand Prix of
Denver hit just as he was taking to the track to begin his run in ...

Fernandez foiled by rain in Qualifying

Unfortunately for Adrian Fernandez, the heaviest rain that fell
intermittently throughout the day at the Centrix Financial Grand Prix of
Denver hit just as he was taking to the track to begin his run in final
qualifying. Fernandez, who set the second fastest lap yesterday, felt he
had a shot at pole position this afternoon but saw all hopes dashed when
the skies opened up.

Fernandez will start fourth and will be looking to improve on his
fourth-place finish last year at the Mile High City when the green flag
drops for the 106-lap/174.582-mile race tomorrow.

The Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver, Round 15 of the Bridgestone
Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford, will be broadcast
live on Fox Sports en Espanol at 3:00 pm ET this Sunday, and shown on
Speed Channel at 9:30 pm ET with a pre-race show beginning at 9:00 pm.

"I came out onto the main straight in front of the pits [on my second
lap] and I wasn't sure if it was raining or not. I started to brake and
there was water everywhere. On the back part of the track it was not
raining so that completely took me by surprise. Obviously, that cost us
any opportunity to go for pole. The car has been very fast all weekend.
We didn't run on new tires this morning, and we felt we had a shot at it
[the pole]. Unfortunately, we will never be able to prove it. Just bad
luck."

FAST FACTS:

Will be making his 175th Champ Car Career start-- started
second at Denver last year and finished fourth-- career-best street
course starting position to date was second at Denver last year--
currently sits eighth in the championship with 82 points-- best 2003
street course start was third in St. Petersburg; best finish was second
at Long Beach-- recorded eight top-10 finishes in 14 rounds of 2003
competition to date-- has qualified seventh or better in seven races to
date, claiming his best starting position of third in St. Petersburg and
Portland-- has finished over 51 percent of his 54 Champ Car career street
course starts in the top 10 and has eight street course podiums-- enters
his 11th season of Champ Car competition with eight career wins and three
pole positions-- 40 years old from Mexico City-- formed Fernandez Racing
in the fall of 2000 with Tom Anderson-- only competing owner/driver in
the series-- is the third most-winning driver in the current Champ Car
field-- ranked ninth in CART all-time career starts-- has 21 Champ Car
career podiums to his credit-- last win was at Portland on June 22-- last
pole position was at Milwaukee in 2002.

Gustavo del Campo, Team Manager:

"It was a special day for us because the weather did not give us a
chance to improve our position. We know we have a car to fight for the
pole but the rain began on the first lap and we lost the chance. We start
the race tomorrow in fourth position, and we have a good chance for our
second win."